Addendum to It’s Not a Trade Off—Better Me Than You

See, what I withheld from the It’s Not a Trade Off post (a few days ago) is that my own mother, who was my primary caregiver during cancer, went for her annual with her general practitioner. And he found a lump near her stomach so she had to have a CAT scan and we are still waiting for the results…for the holiday. With a sister and a daughter having just gone through Stage III cancer each, and one with a recurrence, the odds are not in Mom’s favor. The fact that I’ve had cancer does not give her the free pass, it only seems to increase the likelihood that the news will be bad.

So you see, this is why I have no patience for the “glad I had it rather than my loved ones” It doesn’t work.

Yes, I realize I am jumping ahead and creating worry that may not be warranted. But life taught me to expect the worst, well before diagnoses. Cancer caught me off guard once. Never again.

I can understand this, and its not a trade-off. When cancer runs through families as it does in both of ours it’s almost impossible not to expect it wreaking havoc wherever we look. There’ve been no luck escapes in my family; I wish for one for yours.